


Something Worth Fighting For

by Reijis_Scarf



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Annie-Centric, F/F, I can't tag to save my life, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:34:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28552431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reijis_Scarf/pseuds/Reijis_Scarf
Summary: After spending her entire life alone, Annie has to learn that some things truly are worth fighting for.
Relationships: Mikasa Ackerman/Annie Leonhart
Comments: 41
Kudos: 168
Collections: Mikannie





	1. Fool

_Fuck._

Late.

Again.

Annie forced her eyes forward as she walked into class, ignoring the expected silence and heading to her seat.

_Shit._

Annie figured she should be grateful that no one seemed to even notice her presence, bar the teacher, who called her name and reprimanded her for being a whole 3 minutes behind. Everyone else was too caught up on their own lives, chatting and shouting and laughing as if they knew of nothing else. Not Annie.

Never Annie.

Annie had no one to talk to, or share he thoughts with, or use as a way to make class go by faster.

But she didn't want that.

She never wanted that.

As far as Annie was concerned, there was no need for friends or company of other sorts in her life.

****

****

Her classes went faster than she expected, which she was grateful for, and so she headed home. The 20 minute walk was refreshing. The temperature was starting to drop slightly, as was expected for October, but it was still sunny, and Annie appreciated the good weather that so rarely showed itself. There was no wind either, which Annie was eternally thankful for. There are few things she hates more tha her hair constantly blowing in the wrong directions, in her face, completely revealing her forehead, making her fringe stick straight up, etcetera.

Annie pushed open the door to her house.

"Hey Annie"

"Hi mum. How was your day?"

Her mother walked down the stairs, her hair wild as if she'd just had a shower.

"Prett good, thanks. No massive disasters, so I guess I should count myself lucky, eh?"

Annie kicked off her shoes and headed upstairs, quickly changing into more comfortable clothes before going back downstairs to the kitchen, grabbing some instant noodles, eating said noodles, and disappearing back to her room for the next hour, watching anime or testing how long she can hold her breath or procrastinating on maths homework or thinking about whether she could eat 5 biscuits on one go, but not having any biscuits so she settles for jamming an entire forkful of noodles in her mouth, before realising they are still hot, and confusing her mum when she hears strangled shrieks, then see Annie race downstairs and chug an entire glass of water, then returning upstairs as if nothing happened.

The hour passed, and the time was now 6:15.

"Hey mum," Annie re-materialised in the kitchen, "I'm gonna head off to the gym now, I'll be back by 8 probably, but I'll text you anyway when I leave."

"Cool" was all she got as a reply, but she was halfway out the door already, sporting her favourite hoodie (the grey one that was slightly too big, with a green star the front), and her bag, containing a towel and a change of clothes. She was also carrying a spare hoodie (this time ice blue) since it wouldn't fit in the bag.

20 minutes later and she arrived at the gym that was opposite the school. Since it was a Tuesday evening, not many people would be there, and that was always a good thing. It's easier to beat up a bag when people aren't staring at you like you're manic.

Hurling kicks and punches with speed and power was always a sure-fire way for Annie to release stress caused by everyday life, and today was no different.

The minutes went by and Annie continued to beat the everliving balls out of the punching bag, stopping only to take small sips of water, and as it neared 7:30, the time she intended to start heading off, she decided to go full power. Like a fucking anime protagonist, she struck the bag with such ferocity that the bag came fully off it's chain and rolled across the floor.

Only that wasn't her bag.

_What the shit-_

_**Thud** _

Joining the bag in the floor was another form. A human form. A girl Annie vaguely recognised dropped like a hot potato face first on the mat.

_The hell? How didn't I notice her??_

Annie rushed over to the girl, rolling her onto her side and checking her pulse (fast) and breathing (shallow).

_Of course._

_Ackerman._

The girl, Mikasa Ackerman, was still conscious, but barely. She was also very clearly dehydrated, so Annie ran to fetch her water bottle, bringing Mikasa into a position to drink, and tipped the bottle slightly at her lips. It worked, and Mikasa took over, holding the bottle and taking cautious sips. Annie's hands ran skittishly over Mikasa's body, focusing on her face and torso to check for any reactions that may imply broken bones.

Nothing.

Good.

Annie hauled Mikasa up into a sitting position and sat her against the wall, slumping down next to her, sighing exasperatedly. She waited a few minutes, glancing at Mikasa to check that she was drinking still, her vision involuntarily flitting to the other girl's mouth and eyes, admiring the way they emitted an infinite supply of disinterest mixed with seriousness, slightly lidded in her exhaustion.

A few minutes passed, and Mikasa seemed well enough to be left alone for a short while. And while Annie hated to leave Mikasa in this state, she reckoned it was fine to leave briefly and inform someone who could help.

Annie returned a moment later, having refilled her water bottle on the journey. Mikasa looked like she was coming back to reality, so to speak, so Annie figured she'd ask her about what happened.

"Hey, Ackerman. You just fucking collapsed, what the hell?"

Mikasa lightly tilted her head to look at Annie, before coughing.

"What the-"

Mikasa coughed some more.

"What the hell?" She continued to no one in particular, her voice rough.

"Don't answer a question with a question."

Annie coaxed Mikasa to drink some more.

"Forgot to bring any water, I think. Probably should have thought of that before I murdered a punching bag..." Mikasa chuckled lightly, sending her into another coughing fit as she tried to sit up fully.

"Yea well you nearly fucking died. Don't do it again, idiot."

"Annie, right? I think I saw you around school."

Annie was slightly taken aback at this. The last thing she expected was someone like Mikasa actually knowing who she was.

"Uhh...Y-yeah."

"Cool," Mikasa shot, before following it up with "Thanks, by the way. I owe you one," Mikasa winked at the blonde, a flicker of cheeky energy showing in her eyes, and in her tired half-smile. Annie turned away quickly and pulled out her phone to hide her evident blush.

_What the fuck, emotions?_

Annie used this as an opportunity to inform her mother of the situation _._

_Annie: I'll probably be a bit late home. Some dipshit nearly passed out from dehydration and I'm the only one there to help her._

_Birth-Giver: Ok. Make sure they don't kill themselves, k?_

_A_ nnie: _Sure_

Annie nearly jumped out of her skin when Mikasa rose to her feet, and feebly tried to warm her against it.

"Hey hey hey, wha-"

Lifeless, dulleyes bore into her soul, and Annie found herself unable to do anything other than let out a pathetic whine, at which the taller girl nearly fell over in her laughter, before being ruthlessly pulled down into another coughing fit.

Annie handed Mikasa her bottle, watching the girl drink, cough one last time, and hand it back to Annie, thanking her. Annie had barely recovered during this time, so she took this opportunity to go home before she embarrassed herself even more.

"Fool" was the last thing that left Annie's mouth before she strolled off to the showers like nothing happened, leaving whoever she told to deal with the rest.

~One shower and one 20 minute walk later~ 

Annie pushed the door open and stepped inside her house for the second time that day, sharing half-assed grunts of "Hello" and "Oh, hi" with her mother.

Annie glanced over at the clock hung over the PC desk, and saw the time was 8:20. Far too early to be trying to sleep, but Annie was tired anyway, so she put her stuff down and running upstairs to her room, instantly getting under the covers without bothering to change, and diving into another iconic session of 'Weird-Ass YouTube videos'.

Naturally, her mind fluttered to the incident earlier on the day. She wondered what the hell must have been going on in Mikasa's life to warrant her to beat up the bag so hard that she nearly passes out from dehydration. 

Whatever. It wasn't any of Annie's business, so she decided not to think too hard about it. It didn't really matter to Annie why Mikasa was pushed to that state.

As far as Annie was concerned, you'd have to be a new level of idiot to just forget to drink while working out.

****

****

Next Day 

Annie waltzed into school the same as she always did: Navy bag slung over both shoulders; hood up, trying to avoid eye contact with anyone she could. She got bored of life most days and made it into a game: how little eye contact can she make during the school day?

Her record so far is 3.

She stalks through the corridors and hallways, having spent enough time there to know her way without looking, avoiding bumping into people, avoiding making eye contact, avoiding any reply other than _"_ mmh" when a teacher walks past wishing her a good morning.

Avoid people in general.

That was a good premise to live by, and one Annie tried her best to keep.

Because, you see, people are the main cause of hassle and annoyance, as well as embarrassment and hostility. So, by avoiding people, you are able to limit all those things, and more, in one fell swoop.

And despite how she may come across, Annie cared what people thought of her.

She cared a lot.

That's why, as Annie walked into her first class, further maths, she pulled up her hood as much as was physically possible. The last thing she needed was everyone knowing she was a massive fucking nerd. That she actually cared enough to take further maths as well as regular. That she felt anything other than boredom and annoyance.

That would destroy the image she spent her entire life creating. The image specifically designed to keep other people out. Itwas only by rejecting mankind that you can avoid their venom, and Annie had had quite enough of that for one lifetime.

As expected, the class went well. It was only her in the lesson; no one else could be bothered to take it, so Annie was always on her own. She liked it though, it gave her more time to learn what was being taught, plus being on your own is never a bad thing. Annie would probably end up punching them because they interrupted her or talked through the entire lesson.

Annie once again pulled her hood up as she left, looking cautiously around and evidently not looking where she was going as she felt herself crash into another object.

"Shit, sorry" the object apologised, and Annie realised that it was a person. Obviously. Walls can't speak, dipshit.

" 'S fine" Annie mumbled as she swiftly walked past them, hoping to leave the encounter as quickly as was humanly possible.

Her dreams were crushed once again by the hands of fate.

"Oh, Annie. Sorry, I didn't realise it was you," Annie slowly turned around to face the person and was greeted with a familiar set of black/grey eyes.

"Mikasa."

Annie turned back and kept on walking. Or at least she tried to.

"Hey, wait. I wanted to thank you for yesterday, I was stupid and I'm glad you were there. So, thanks." Mikasa smiled sheepishly, and if Annie wasn't seeing things, there might have been a hint of red creep it's way onto the taller girl's face.

Annie, as always, defaulted to solitude.

"I appreciate that. But don't try and get all buddy-buddy with me. I don't do _friends,_ understand?"

Annie recoiled slightly at the bite in her own voice, but she figured it was better to drive Mikasa away now before shit got messy. Because it always got messy. Still the look in Mikasa's eyes told her that maybe she took it a bit too far.

Without saying another word, Mikasa turned on her heel and walked away to her next class.

_Shit._


	2. Rage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The taller girl continued towards Annie, chest heaving, eyes wide with something dangerous.

_Shit._

Annie mentally punched herself at the unrestricted bite in her words, and had half a mind to call Mikasa back over, but that was so unlike Annie; voluntarily initiating social situations, let alone ones bound to descend into awkwardness and hard feelings. Annie had a bad enough relationship with pretty much every human in existence, and while she understood that it was entirely her fault for not trying to fix them, part of her was too scared to attempt it, at the risk of making everything worse.

So instead she watched helplessly as the girl with soulless black eyes marched off away from her.

Another ruined relationship narrowly avoided.

Because that's how Annie thought about this stuff. On the surface, it may seem that she completely botched the encounter, and lost a possible friend. But in doing so, she saved herself and Mikasa the pain of screwing up a positive relationship, which, in Annie's opinion, was bad enough to warrant not taking a chance at being friends. Annie had gone through enough broken friendships in her lifetime to know that it was one of the worst feelings in the world, and one she never wanted to experience again.

****

****

The following days went as expected for Annie. That is to say, alone and void of all human interaction outside of her mother and every so often a teacher that might ask her a question in class. But even that was rare; most of the teachers knew from teaching her for years that she actively avoided any and all conversation with other people, so for the most part she didn't get quizzed much in lesson.

Annie still went to the gym every other day, and without fail Mikasa was there as well.

Every. Single. Day.

She was there before Annie, and looked as if she'd been at it for at least half and hour, and she stayed till after Annie left. The blonde wasn't quite sure how the fuck Mikasa managed to work out every day for what seemed to be hours, going full power and pushing herself to near-exhaustion. For someone so highly regarded for their intellectual prowess and impressive skill at pretty much anything, she sure was stupid when it came to work-outs.

_What the hell is going on with her?_

Annie figured there must be some sort of outside factor pushing her to these extreme states, judging by her sudden aggressive change in attitude towards everything. Annie had barely even noticed Mikasa in the years that she came here to work out, so there must be a reason that the taller girl is only now making a massive scene out of murdering a punching bag in cold blood.

Still, Annie was just glad that by some miracle she hadn't had another awkward or tense encounter with her, so she gave up trying to figure out other people's problems and turned back to her own life.

A week since the whole Mikasa-Being-A-Fucking-Crackpot fiasco, and it was well into October now. The temperature dropped mercilessly and biting cold wind cut through the blonde like mystic daggers homing in on the soul.

Annie grimaced and pulled her hoodie up more, always opting to exclude herself from life's bullshittery than try and figure it out. She never liked cold months. Ther were one of the things that pissed her off way more than it had any right to. Maybe it was the way they punished you bit-by-bit for literally fucking existing. Or the way they seemed to last for ever, stretching in until you were just ready to give up on life, then you got dropped in the middle of spring, where everything was warmer and more colourful, but then smacked you upside the head with buckets and buckets of rain. Seriously, where did they get it all from? It must rain more during March and April than it did all other months combined.

Summer was probably the best time of year, since it wasn't too extreme in any one area. Sure, sometimes it was hot as hell, but Annie reckoned that was better than freezing to death or drowning as soon as you step outside.

Alas, it was fucking freezing outside on this particular day, so Annie did her best to ignore the cutting cold of the wind and soldiered on towards the school, desperate not to be late to any classes.

Luckily, as Annie checked the time on her phone while walking in to school, she still had 2 minutes to spare. She made her way into the building, and found her class just as the lesson time officially started. Convenient. Annie sighed in relief that she wouldn't have to loiter awkwardly outside class where everyone can stare creepily at her as they walk past.

Further Maths again, and Mr Smith (her teacher) grinned devilishly as she walked through the door. Annie spotted the cause of this malice: A single exam paper sat on his desk.

"Annie, welcome in! Take a seat, I'm sure you'll enjoy this lesson: the first in-class assessment of the year!" Annie just stared at the paper with a look of utter disinterest, then back to Mr Smith as he carried on. "Let's see just how far you've come in the 5 weeks you've had this class."

"Sure"

Annie wasted no time sitting down at her desk. Well, there wasn't anyone else in the lesson so she could literally sit anywhere. Annie got her stuff out of her bag as Mr Smith lay the assessment in front of her as would be done in any other test. Exam conditions and all that.

Annie opened the paper as soon as her teacher gave her the go-ahead, and stared menacingly at the first question.

_Fuckin' easy shit._

Annie finished the entire thing in 1 hour, giving her a full 15 minutes to check and double check and triple check. Once the time was up, she handed the paper to Mr Smith with a slight smirk in her face. In the remaining 10 minutes left of the lesson (it was a double lesson, so it made for the ideal time for exams and such) Annie and Mr Smith chatted about regular post-exam shit. What did you find difficult? Has it helped you realise what topics you need to focus on? That kind of stuff.

Annie had a good feeling that she aced the test. No, that's not right. She knew she did.

Turns out, being the only one in the class helps a lot with learning, and Annie had made sure she used that opportunity to the maximum.

Leaving class, Annie spent the rest of the day in a good mood, which may or may not have earned her confused looks from fellow students, since no one ever saw Annie look even remotely positive. Ever.

Turns out, she's a weirdo who likes math, and Annie was fine with that. She was far past needing other people's recognition and validation to feel worthy, and Annie would never understand why such a stupid concept bothered people so much.

That said, Annie would still never dare tell a soul that she actually enjoyed such subjects, because while she may have no use for validation, didn't mean she was fine with being mocked and picked on for being a nerd.

People were jerks.

****

****

Lunch rolled around and Annie sat at her usual table, glad to see that her presence seemed to have scared off any other humans from entering her territory.

Subconsciously, she glanced around at the other tables and the groups sitting around them. One specific table in particular seemed to draw her attention. Probably because it was making more noise than a nuclear explosion.

The group consisted of about 9 people: Eren (the brat), Armin ( the nerd that looks like a mushroom), Jean Kirchstein (horse-face), Marco Bodt (freckled Jesus), Krista Lenz (a motherfucking angel of mankind), Ymir LastName (seriously what the fuck was her last name), Connie Springer (braincells where?), Sasha Braus ( **cromch** ), and Mika-

_Where the fuck is Mikasa?_

Annie was slightly surprised that she actually noticed that Mikasa wasn't there, let alone that she sat with that group at all. Whatever, it didn't matter either way, so Annie just carried on eating and glaring at no-one in particular.

After Annie finished with her food, she decided to continue on her 16-and-a-half-years-long streak of staying the fuck away from people. And what better way to do that than to lock yourself in a toilet stall and watch YouTube?

Annie made her way to the toilets, and paused as she heard a noise coming from the farthest stall.

**thump**

Annie cautiously made her way over and peeked round the door, which was open. She was met with the sight of a familiar black-haired girl assaulting a wall with her foot. Annie could tell from her body language and the force with which she struck out at the wall that she was not exactly in the best mood. Annie knew she should leave because when did she ever actually care about whatever the fuck anyone else did, felt, or said? But before she could stop herself-

"What the fuck crawled up your ass and died?"

-left her mouth, and the other girl snapped her head around and stared menacingly into Annie's soul.

Mikasa turned her full body slowly so she faced Annie, and slowly stalked towards her. Annie didn't move at all.

"The fuck is your problem, Leonhart?? Do you enjoy messing in other people's shit and pissing them off?" The taller girl continued towards Annie, chest heaving, eyes wide with something dangerous.

Annie didn't quite know what she expected coming into this situation, but it wasn't this. Her breathing grew quick and she reached behind her head to pull her hood up. Annie knew she wasn't good at social situations, so she decided the best course of action was to leave, but as she turned to do so, she felt something strike her on the side of the head, right below her ear before she could get her hood all the way over her head. Nothing to cushion the blow.

Annie's instincts kicked in, and she raised her fists in a fighting stance, powering through the shock from the blow. The blonde saw that Mikasa had also taken up a similar stance, and Annie smirked.

This was something she was good at.

Annie opted to stay defensive and wait for Mikasa's attack. She didn't have to wait long considering the taller girl's apparent and completely uncalled for rage.

The punch came fast and almost caught Annie in the jaw, but she just barely dodged it, throwing her own fist at Mikasa's stomach. Wasting no time, Annie threw out her leg to drive a powerful kick to Mikasa's side, but she blocked the leg and threw a punch that did collide with Annie's nose, breaking it and pouring blood down the blonde's face. Annie stumbled back, bringing her hand up to touch her nose, wincing.

"You fucking moron" Annie breathed in a tone so deadly most people would drop dead just from hearing it.

Mikasa took advantage of Annie's distracted state and drove her fist forcefully just under Annie's breast, possibly cracking a rib.

Annie forced herself to recover quickly and brought her hands up to her side, blocking Mikasa's kick. She grabbed the leg instead of just blocking it, and in one swift movement, she kicked out the remaining leg and sent Mikasa careering into the ground, a stall door smashing against her head and knocking her out cold.

Having floored her opponent, Annie's adrenaline rush seeped away and the pain of the insanely strong punches started to show, and Annie fell against the wall, black spots appearing in her vision.

The last thing she saw was 2 people, one brown haired and another blonde, rushing to Mikasa's side as the black-haired girl regained consciousness, carrying her out of the bathroom and leaving Annie alone to succumb to her wounds.

_Hey. W-wait. Come b-back._

_Help._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, before the actual notes I'd just like to say that I'm an idiot and forget to change the upload date so if it says something stupid like Jan 10th, it's wrong. This was uploaded on Jan 16th.
> 
> It is done! I do not have an upload schedule, but I'll try to not be ages with each chapter. I'm not very good at writing so they will usually be short until I get better at this shit. Sorry :/
> 
> Let me know what you thought, and if anything could be improved.
> 
> Also give me any ideas you have for the rest of the story.
> 
> Thanks (ノ^_^)ノ


	3. Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Ok, Annie Leonhart. Age 16"
> 
> "You forgot the most important details: Short and antisocial."

Annie woke to the sight of bright white lights above her and a throbbing pain in her forehead. Trying to sit up, she collapsed when a searing, aching, burning pain shot through her chest, nearly causing her to black out.

_What the fuck was that?_

She lay there in agony, breathing as shallowly as she could so as to not provoke the pain again, and slowly opened her eyes once she had adjusted to the light. The blonde looked around cautiously, seeing she was in a large white room, dressed in boring white...pyjamas? Oh wait no, a hospital gown.

_Wait what?_

Annie tried again to sit up, gritting her teeth against the stabbing sensation in her chest and looking around in confusion. Why was she in a hospital? Annie couldn't remember any reason that she would get so badly injured that she might be hospitalised, the last thing she could remember was getting up after lunch and walking to the toilets. Everything after that was a blur.

As Annie pondered this, a tall woman with goggles and brown hair caught up in a messy ponytail walked into the room, a doctor by the look of her uniform and label, which read: _Hange Zoë._ She seemed somewhat unhinged, with her ruffled hair and wide eyes, observing Annie as if she was some kind of experiment. She tensed up, wary of the interaction to come, but forced herself to calm down. She could trust a doctor.

The woman, Hange, stared at Annie for what seemed like an hour, before the short girl had enough and spoke.

"Ca-" _**cough**_ "n I h-elp you miss?" Annie stuttered, her throat feeling dry and she wondered what was the last time she drank?

The doctor replied, "Oh no no no, I'm here to help you rather than the other way round." She giggled happily and sat down on the edge of the hospital bed. "Also, I'd prefer if you didn't refer to me as 'miss', I actually identify as non-binary."

"Shit, sorry." Annie immediately felt incredibly guilty, an emotion that she rarely had to deal with thanks to her lifelong goal to not talk to anyone ever. "I had no idea."

"Oh no its fine," Hange said, "I don't expect people to know when they first meet me."

The doctor got up off the bed and walked round to stand at the foot of it. They pulled out a blue folder and started looking through it, mmh-ing and ah-ing every now and again, as if there was anything in there that they hadn't probably already read 4 times over.

"Ok, Annie Leonhart. Age 16"

"You forgot the most important details: Short and antisocial."

Hange glanced over at her, smiling.

"I like your attitude," Hange grinned wider, and just for a second, Annie was sure they were going to try and fuse her body to a frog's or some crazy shit you see in bad horror movies.

"I have some good news and some bad news," they continued, "The good news is, you aren't dead, although I don't think that really counts since your condition wasn't bad enough for that to ensue anyways." Hange spoke to themself, a pondering finger tapping gently at their chin.

"So you don't have any good news then," Annie deadpanned.

"I have some bad news and some bad news" Hange corrected. "The bad news is, you seem to have a broken rib. The bad news is, you received some mild head trauma and had a pretty nasty concussion, so you may be missing some memories."

Annie's eyes widened at that. How in the everliving fuck did she manage to get a broken rib and head trauma?

"You're probably wondering: How in the everliving dogfuck did I manage to get a broken rib and head trauma? Well, it seems you got into a fight at school and ended up with those injuries. The other party was admitted about half-an-hour earlier than you were with similar injuries, but they haven't woken up yet."

Then everything hit Annie like a truck with Mikasa's fist on the front travelling at 240kph right into her face.

Her fight with Mikasa.

She vaguely remembers flooring the tall, black-haired girl, and then some voices carrying Mikasa out of the toilets, then Annie must have blacked out before they came back for her. But why the hell did Mikasa go beserk mode and punch Annie so hard it broke a rib just because she asked 'What the fuck crawled up your ass and died?'

Annie felt like her head was going to cave in if she thought too much, no doubt helped by the rabid strikes she received yesterday.

Yesterday? Today? Last week? Month?

"How long...have I been here?" Annie tentatively offered her question, slightly scared for the answer.

"Oh? Not that long, you came in yesterday and have been here for a total of 27 hours."

_Thank fuck._

With that heart attack out of the way, the blonde once again chalked Mikasa's strange behaviour to random shit like a lack of sleep or just life being a bitch as it often was, and dropped the topic from her mind.

"So," Annie started, looking down nervously at her hands, which were fiddling with part of the gown. "How do you fix....this..."

Annie gently waved her arms down at her body, indicating that she meant her general state and injuries.

"Well, unfortunately we will need an operation to deal with the broken rib, as our x-rays showed that it was a pretty bad fracture, and it might have caused other issues that we aren't yet aware of. Usually we wouldn't need surgery for a broken rib, but this case is more severe so we won't take any chances."

"As for the head injuries, our scans came back clear, so we'll probably just give you some pain relievers and you'll be fine."

Hange smiled warmly and put the folder back in its place at the bottom of the bed.

"Thanks"

****

****

Almost a week passed after the operation to fix her rib. The doctors said she was lucky that it didn't damage her other vital organs such as her lungs, or cut an artery or vein.

Annie was meant to be discharged today, and having had nothing to do for the past 6 days, she was more than happy to get back into the world. Not that it would make much difference either way, she probably wouldn't talk to people or try and make friends even if she had just recovered from a year-long coma.

She sat and stared at the ceiling wishing to all hell that nothing would unexpectedly go wrong and cause her to stay for any longer. The blonde gazed at the ceiling for at least 25 minutes, thinking about how cool it would be if she was invincible, unable to be hurt and hospitalised ever again. If she could regenerate parts of her body without medical help, withstand blows from even the strongest fighters of the world.

Be able to not only take the most powerful hits, but to deal them as well. Turn into a fucking superhuman, taller than any house. Able to run at racehorse speeds and kick so hard she could send her enemies flying into the sunset.

Never have to worry about people ever again.

Annie was whisked away from her thoughts by her doctor Hange flamboyantly throwing the door open and stepping inside her room, that mad Cheshire Cat grin plastered on their face. They truly looked like a psychopath.

 _They probably are a psychopath_.

"I have some good news and some bad news" Hange's words were an echo of their conversation only a week ago. "The good news: you can leave today!"

Annie smiled at that. Like, actually smiled. Not that half-assed turn up of the lips she usually did, like she wanted to smile but couldn't be fucking bothered. This was an actual, genuine smile and the first one Annie had done in way too long.

"The bad news..."

Her smile immediately dropped as she prepared for the worst.

"You won't have me around anymore."

And just like that all worry was swiped clear from Annie's mind, and she let out a very small chuckle. Hange must have been the first human on the planet to make Annie Leonhart laugh.

"So can I go now?" Annie did not wish to stay in the building any longer. She had already wasted far too many hours of her life there and quite frankly, she was bored as hell.

"Sure, your clothes have been washed, your bag is on that chair over there." The doctor gestured to Annie's dark green backpack. "But just so you know, I think there are some people who asked if they could see you. I told them you'd be out today so you'll have to meet them outside the building."

A confused look contorted Annie's face.

_Who the hell would want to see me?_

Annie thought of the possible options for who on Earth would actually voluntarily go to see her in hospital. She couldn't for the life of her think of someone, who cares enough about her wellbeing to let it disrupt their day to visit. Annie had always lived on the assumption that the people around her simply didn't care about her, and so thet weren't to be relied on or made friends with.

But then again, how _did_ she get here in the first place? Last thing she remembered before waking up here was Mikasa's unconscious body being carried out of the toilets by-

_Oh shit._

"Hey..uhh...doc?" Annie kept her voice monotone, hiding the slight irrational worry that brewed in the pit of her stomach.

"Yeah?"

"Did you...by any chance see the people that wanted to see me?" She forced her voice and face to stay relaxed and uninterested, hiding her unnecessary worry. The last thing Annie needed was everyone on the planet knowing she had mild social anxiety.

"I vaguely remember them. I think one was a short blonde guy. The other one I don't really remember."

"Thanks...," was all Annie could think to say.

****

****

Strolling out of the building, Annie pulled her hood up, hoping to avoid contact with Eren and/or Armin. Her eyes darted from person to person, checking for the telltale signs of 'yellow mushroom' or 'eren'.

It wasn't hard, given the uncontrollable energy exerted by the brown-haired boy, and Annie saw them almost immediately. The pair were leaning against a wall, Eren's black jacket making him look like he was about to stab someone save for Armin's more approachable aesthetic: blue t-shirt and black skinny jeans. They were chatting about something too quiet for Annie to eavesdrop, but loud enough to be heard clearly. Not that she cared what they were on about.

She increased her speed and walked past them in hope of them not noticing her.

"Annie!"

Just her luck.

Annie tugged harder in her hood and ignored them, before stopping completely at the sound of quick footsteps.

"Hey, Annie. We wanna talk about...stuff."

Ah, Eren. Such a way with words.

The blonde reluctantly turned around and glared daggers at Eren and Armin, the latter meeting her gaze with a lopsided smile.

"What Eren meant was..." Armin nervously played with the hem of his shirt the same way Annie would sometimes do when she got worried around people.

"We, and by extension Mikasa, are sorry about last week. You are probably wondering what the hell happened, and while I don't really know either, I heard enough from Mikasa to figure it out."

While he looked like an annoying nerd on the surface, he was a genuinely sincere guy once you have him a chance, and Annie respected that about him despite wanting nothing more than to phase into the floor and escape the conversation.

"That's...one way to put it." Annie stared at her feet as if she hadn't seen them every day for the past 16 years.

"From what I've heard, Mikasa kind of went beserk on you, and then this happened." He gestured wildly to the entire hospital with that last line. "Last week was... important to Mikasa. Bad important."

Annie's eyebrows rose up as if to say 'how so?'

"I'm telling you this in the hope that you are able to keep it secret, since this is pretty personal to her."

Annie couldn't think of a single reason why she would go out of her way to have a conversation and then spill information that wasn't here to tell, but she went with it, eyes raising slightly off the ground and up to meet Armin's. They flitted to Eren, who shuffled uncomfortablely in the background, but then back to the former as he continued.

"As you may know, Mikasa lives with Eren, and is his adoptive sister. You probably never cared or wondered why. Last week, specifically October 10th, was exactly 8 years since she lost her parents and was taken in by the Jaeger's. I can't really go any further than that, it's up to her to tell you more, but that's all you really need to know. She always got really tense and anxious at this time of year, opting to lock herself away and hit things, or spend more time at the gym to hit things, or bunking off classes to go hit things. Physical violence was always her way of releasing that pent up anger and sorrow, but this is the first time she's actually attacked someone."

Her eyes widened as she took in Armin's words.

Mikasa lost her parents exactly 8 years ago on the day Annie decided to be a nosy bitch. No wonder she lashed out at Annie. The blonde would probably have a similar reaction if someone caught her crying over her father's disappearance.

Annie instantly dropped her head and tries to distract herself once again with her shoes, her fists clenching inside the hoodie pocket.

"...oh fuck."

Armin shot her a sad smile, which Annie didn't even notice.

"Why did I even try and talk to her?? I never talk to people for this exact reason...because I always mess it up," Annie questioned herself, panicking as her breathing grew erratic. She threw her hands up to cover her face, one hand briefly trying to pull her hood all the way over her face. Anything to hide from Armin and the rest of the world. "Shit, I probably made it so much worse...I knocked her out and she was sent to a fucking hospital!"

Annie froze at the sensation in her shoulder, looking up to find Armin's hand there. Usually she would have slapped it away, maybe his face with it, but instead Annie just looked at Armin with wide and panicked eyes meeting his calm blue ones.

"Calm," he spoke in a controlled and friendly manner, as if she hadn't just had a minor panic attack. "Mikasa is fine. If anything, she feels just as bad as you do, since she also knocked you out cold. So I guess you two are even."

"Look, don't worry about last week. It was an indescribable mess of emotions and bad desicions. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and if anything you should be glad it was you and not some other kid who couldn't fight. They probably would have died or something." The boy let out a small chuckle, and Annie relaxed slightly at his rational words and soft tone.

"Thanks Armin."

Annie made full eye contact whole saying that, letting him know that she meant it. Armin grinned sheepishly and scratched his neck awkwardly.

"No problem. Say, you don't have to sit alone all the time outside of lessons, come sit with us! It'll be nice to have another addition to the squad."

Annie froze again.

Never in her life had someone offered them a place in their circle of friends. She didn't really know how to respond.

If she said no, she'd lose an opportunity at redemption from Mikasa, as well as possibly crawling out of the lonely hole she currently lived in.

If she said yes, there was always the possibility that she would fuck up again and make everything worse.

Annie really wanted to accept the blonde mushroom's offer, but she felt that fear creep up again, and she was powerless to fight it.

"N-no. I'm fine thanks..."

Armin's face dropped slightly in disappointment, but he was quick to fix that, and once again friendly expression appeared.

"Ok, I understand. Just know that the offer is always open."

"Sure"

With that, Annie pulled on her hood, forcing it all the way over her head again, and walked off, not looking back.

 _Enough socialising for one lifetime_ , Annie thought and she headed home, knowing the way back off by heart, and planned for the rest of her day to include a whole lot of being left alone and doing nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayy, chapter 3 is up, and like half a week early!!!
> 
> And, it's a slightly longer chapter! Yaaayyyyyyyy!
> 
> Hopefully I can keep this up, but don't expect anything :/


	4. Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She turned her entire body away now, not letting Mikasa see the single tear that rolled down her cheek.

Annie woke to a sharp knocking on her bedroom door, followed by a singsong cry of "Annie!". The knocking repeated twice more before the voice appeared again, more forceful this time.

"Annie, get your lazy ass out of bed, you've got an hour before you have to leave."

And she was up faster than a rocket reaching escape velocity.

Stumbling out of bed and nearly smashing her head on a wall, the short blonde frantically danced around her room, tugging on a dressing gown and grabbing her phone from beside her bed. She called back at her mother-

"Alright, alright. I'm up I swear!"

-and opened the door to see a woman about 5 inches taller than herself, with the same blonde hair that fell below her ears, except worn down instead of in a messy bun like hers. Annie pouted and pushed past, running down the stairs 2 steps at a time and swiping some boring ass cereal from the counter and pouring herself breakfast. She didn't have time to eat anything fancy, so it would have to do.

50 minutes.

Rush to eat breakfast, fastest shower known to man, get dressed and brush teeth, double check that everything is ready for college.

25 minutes.

"Hey Annie!" Her mother called after her as she was about to leave. "Take it easy, kay? It's your first day back since being let out if the hospital and no one is expecting you to just turn up and do everything fine."

"Doesn't mean I shouldn't try" Annie replied, and shot her mother a half-assed glare, before swiping up her bag and sprinting out the door.

****

****

She pulled up her hood like she always did while walking onto the school grounds, checking her phone to see that she once again had an entire 2 minutes to get to her first class: Physics. There were more people in that class than Further Maths (in which there were none besides her), so Annie made sure to never be late to avoid embarrassing call-outs by teachers.

Shooting judgemental looks at the other students, Annie stalked through the grass that covered most of the school grounds. Her vision flitted between the students that stood around the field, mentally scowling at them for pretty much no reason at all, glaring at the pairs that chatted and laughed and ignored their classes' starting times.

Annie would have made it to her class in time, if it weren't for the sudden harsh tug on her shoulder as she passed a group of trees bring dragged into them. The blonde let out a strangled cry as a hand grabbed her by the neck and pushed her against a tree, and she instinctively reached up to grasp the hand at her throat.

She let out a grunt and elbowed the other person to no avail. Her eyes flitted up to the attacker, and Annie's icy blue met-

Grey.

Mikasa.

Remembering the incident 7 days ago, Annie attempted to wrangle the taller girl's hand off her throat, but Mikasa dropped it anyway, and placed both hands on either side of Annie's head, staring lifelessly into her soul.

Annie noticed that this was not a fight, but instead a rather violent conversation, and knowing that caused her to seize up in a feeble attempt to hide from Mikasa. It didn't work.

"Leonhart"

Said person only looked back anxiously, awaiting the next words.

"We need to talk. Now."

Annie simply nodded her head lightly and began to play with the strings of her hoodie, desperate for a way out.

"About last week. I don't remember much, but I do know that we fought, you won, and we both sustained injuries bad enough to need medical attention," Mikasa's eyes dropped to the floor. "I guess I should apologise for that, and I expect you want to as well. I don't have an excuse for what I did, and you were only acting in self defense, so I'm sorry."

Annie spoke up, " 's fine" being the only words she could form.

"It's fine??" Mikasa did a double take, "It quite obviously isn't: we were both sent to a fucking hospital!"

Turning her head away from Mikasa's, Annie whispered her apology.

"S-sorry. I shouldn't have gotten involved in stuff that isn't by business. I just wanted to check if you were alright, is all." The blonde peered up through her hair, hoping to find Mikasa more relaxed and approachable than before.

Those hopes were crushed.

"Just wanted to check if I was alright?? You, _Annie Leonhart,_ gave enough of a _shit_ about another human being to 'check if they were alright'?? I don't fucking believe it!"

Mikasa flailed her arms about wildly, that anger and ferocity reappearing in her eyes as the slammed her palms back against the wall threateningly.

"All you did was see someone very obviously wanting to be left alone," Mikasa seethed, "and took it upon yourself to ruin they're _fucking_ day!!" She thrust herself off the wall and away from Annie, waving her arms in large pointing gestures aimed directly at the blonde.

Annie let out a small gasp at the black-haired girl's outburst, and quickly aimed her vision at the floor, once again trying to hide herself from Mikasa. She heard Mikasa's words clear as day, and she agreed.

Never in Annie's life had she thought she deserved friends, or people's good deeds. Because Annie never did any of those things herself, she didn't care enough about anyone else, so why would they care back?? If all she did was push people away, what reason did they have to reach out to her? Why would they try and build bridges if all she did was break them?

"You're pitiful, Leonhart." Mikasa spat before backing off slightly, leaving Annie I'm a state of complete shock.

Her expectations of Mikasa were that she'd be more controlled and calm, despite their encounter last week. What she didn't expect was for the taller girl to be prone to violent outbursts and for her to be so...aggressive.

She turned her entire body away now, not letting Mikasa see the single tear that rolled down her cheek.

"Y..our going t-to be la..te."

Annie hastily dried her eyes with the sleeve of her ice-blue hoodie, pushing desperately past Mikasa and running away from the encounter, leaving the other party bewildered.

****

****

Bursting into the bathroom, Annie ran to a stall and locker herself in, grabbing handfuls of paper towels to dry her teary eyes as she continued sobbing.

Were someone to walk in and see her, they would be astounded by the shameful sight they saw: Annie's short frame made to look even smaller as she hunched over, sat on a closed toilet lid, crying as her blonde fringe covered her face.

She couldn't stop thinking about Mikasa's words.

_You're pitiful, Leonhart_

Annie couldn't help but agree with her. Mikasa was right: Annie was a pathetic excuse for a person and a friend.

She had known it her entire life.

Her inability to talk to people in the most simple of situations, her resting bitch face and glare that made her seem unapproachable, her disinterest and general detest for anything and everything different. For fuck's sake she couldn't even keep her friends by her side!

Well, what little friends she did make.

Her mind flashed back to all the people in her life that could even possibly be considered at friends, and there weren't many. Everyone who tried to get close to her, she ended up shouting at or punching or just plain ignoring until they gave up and left her alone. All the kids that wanted to play sports with her back in primary school, that then got injured by her while playing and never asked again.

Even Reiner and Bertholdt, the two people Annie had managed to keep close for a full year, she pushed away. As with all the rest, she got angry at them for no reason, they weren't at fault at all, and she ended up punching Reiner so hard he had a broken nose.

They haven't spoken since.

Annie sobbed even harder at the frantic thoughts running through her head, grabbing more tissues. She wiped some of her tears away, but the paper disintegrated and fell out of her loose grip.

In her frustration, Annie balled her fist up and struck the wall, and cried out when her knuckles came back red and bruised.

She didn't care.

_**"FUCK! FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK!!!!!"** _

She punched the wall rapidly with both hands while shouting a mantra of _**FUCK**_ like she was the next shitting JoJo protagonist. Her hands burned, and she was fairly certain that they would start bleeding and possibly be broken, but she kept going until the pain meant she physically couldn't bring herself to carry on.

This was the pain she felt every day from being rejected by her friends. This was the pain she made them feel just by being around her. This was the pain of every nose and jaw she broke because someone accidentally fell into her or made her drop some food _._

The blonde stared down and was shocked by the blood and bruises that covered them, then back at the wall - once blue, now stained with the slightest bits of red - and and grabbed even more tissues to try and scrub away the blood, failing as she whimpered in pain at her bruised fingers and hands.

With nothing left to do, and all her anger at herself and the world dissipated, Annie collapsed back onto the toilet lid and cried for all she was worth.

She didn't have a plan, or any idea of how she would get out of this. People would come searching soon and the last thing Annie needed was a plethora of staff chasing her around the building.

****

****

15 minutes passed, and no-one showed up. The pain in her hands had mostly died down, and she had no more tears left to cry. Sitting in sadness and pity got her nowhere, and so Annie stood shakily, eyes red from crying, and opened the stall door.

All clear.

She slowly walked out into the corridor after washing her hands clean of blood. Her hood was pulled fully over her head, the shadow it cast acting as Annie's only protection from the outside world, a way to hide from everything that wanted to smile you out and expose you.

No one was prowling the corridor directly outside the toilets either, and Annie's luck seemed to be holding. Her footsteps echoed around the walls, far too loud for Annie's ears which had heard only silence for the past quarter-of-an-hour.

Annie stopped briefly to check the time on her phone, confirming that she was in fact now 20 minutes late to her first lesson.

_No point even showing up, now._

But as she ceased walking, the footsteps didn't.

They only got closer.

She didn't realise this until it was too late, and a second blonde rounded the corner before stopping when they made eye contact.

_Armin._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took longer, I didn't know what else to write to make it not super short.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed :)


	5. Safe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To have someone look out for her in situations she knew she couldn't handle. To be so patient and understanding no matter what.
> 
> Maybe this is what it feels like to have a true friend.

_Armin_

_****_

_****_

Frozen to the spot, Annie stared fearfully at Armin and she saw the realisation in his eyes as he joined the dots as to what was going on. The red flush around her eyes. The bruises in her hands. The slumped posture as if her entire body was hiding from something.

His eyes fluttered back to her right arm, and at the injured state of her hand. Armin's eyebrows furrowed, focussed solely on helping Annie. He rushed over to her and tentatively took her hand in his, careful not to be to forceful or move in a way that might hurt her. Annie winced in pain, and he stopped and glanced up at her.

"Holy crap, Annie. What the hell happened??" Armin continued to inspect the bruises and small cuts that were littered along her knuckles with such care that Annie didn't think anyone had shown towards her for as long as she could remember. "Your hands are heavily bruised, you've got cuts all over your knuckles."

The blonde girl tensed up even more and made a futile attempt to drag her hand back. Her eyes were wide with fear and she couldn't move a muscle in her body; if it weren't for Armin's exceptional people skills she probably would have started tearing up by now.

Then Armin straightened up and looked Annie straight in the eyes.

"And have you been...crying?"

That was enough. She couldn't bear to stand here any longer in a situation that she was not at all comfortable with, a person she barely knew invading her very large personal bubble and forcing physical contact and eye contact. She had to get away.

But where? Anywhere she went, she'd be picked up by teachers or students. This place was as good as any, at least she could trust Armin to not be a dick about the situation.

So Armin watched in mild shock as Annie snatched her hand away and slumped back against a wall, curling up into a ball with her knees covering her face. She felt Armin's eyes on her and hid her face even further into her legs, wishing this to all end.

She looked pitiful.

Annie didn't want to look up as she heard Armin's footsteps again. If he left or stayed, it wouldn't make much difference to her. If anything, Annie hoped the boy would leave her in peace to sort out her problems alone as she always had, having learned not to rely on anyone else, as (from her experience) people were not worth trusting no matter how much they told you otherwise. If Armin stayed, all he could do was tell Annie that "everything was fine" when it clearly wasn't, then offer to help in some other way that put her in an uncomfortable situation, to which she would decline and carry on her life of solitude.

And Armin knew that.

So the last thing Annie expected to happen was for him to simply sit down against the wall next to her, not a foot between them, and sigh exasperatedly at the ceiling.

****

****

The pair sat like that for at least five minutes before moving or saying anything, and when they finally did interact, it was only because Annie could no longer hold back the urge to glance at Armin, to which he simple looked back at her and smiled warmly as if they were suddenly friends.

"Do you want to talk about it?" The boy asked gently, no hint of malice in his voice. Annie quickly looked away and back down at her feet, cheeks turning a light shade of red.

"Not really."

Armin frowned slightly, but soon his smile returned and he set his eyes back on the opposite wall.

"Ok, that's fine"

Annie also looked up and relaxed slightly, having gotten used to the boy's company by now.

"Maybe later," she said before sighing and letting her head roll back and lie against the wall. Her legs came away from her chest and she stretched them out while her arms fell at her side. Armin glanced over and observed her hand once again, this time no contact.

"Seriously, what happened? You've got bruises and small cuts everywhere." He carefully pulled back the sleeve of her hoodie and was relieved to see that the injuries didn't carry on up the arm.

"I just-"

She sighed again, heavier this time, and brought her hands up infront of her face to look at them.

"Someone said some pretty shit things to me earlier, and they hit me in a way I didn't think was possible. No matter how much I deny it, they were right and I don't want to think like that. They were right in thinking that I'm a crap excuse for a person." Annie didn't move or pause or change her dead tone at all during the monologue, not even looking to see the blonde boy's concerned and slightly surprised expression.

"If it's any help-"

"It's probably not"

"-I don't believe you're a 'crap excuse for a person'. If anything, you seem to me like someone I'd like to be friends with."

The shorter girl's head snapped up and stared confusedly at Armin, as if trying to say 'Seriously?? Me??'

Armin took a deep breath and continued. "I don't think it's right to judge someone before knowing them, and I don't really know you yet. But from what I've seen, you're quiet and rational, but also willing to hold your own and be independent. You're the only person in the school who does Further Maths, and that subject is damn hard; you've got to be really smart to attempt that."

She recoiled slightly in surprise.

"Did I just get told I'm smart...by the biggest fucking nerd in the entire building??"

Armin chuckled at that-

"Maybe..."

-and got to his feet, offering a hand to help Annie up. She took it, and Armin grabbed her arm to lessen the load on her bruised hands. It helped, and she stood up beside him.

"Thanks..." Annie muttered. She surprised herself with her politeness, half expecting the word 'dickhead" to accidentally roll out of her mouth after it.

But it didn't, and Annie allowed herself the world's smallest smile. If she was being completely honest, she was glad that Armin had turned up; despite what she wanted to believe, it would have been a lot worse if he hadn't.

And now they were wandering aimlessly down the halls of the building, burning off the minutes before class ended and avoiding the area of school that they were meant to be in.

"If anyone asks," Armin began, "we were busy making out in the disabled toilets."

Annie nearly choked on her own saliva.

"D-did I...hear that right??"

Armin turned around and snickered in a way that was so out of character for him. "Don't worry, it was a joke. I'll think of some shit excuse on the spot if we get caught out."

Just like that, Armin seemed to completely forget that awkward interaction that commenced not seconds before, shot Annie one of those friendly smiles that made her feel like he cared about her somewhat, and continued walking.

By some miracle, no one overheard their conversation, and Annie prayed that it stayed that way. And that Armin didn't notice the red washing over her face.

That would be embarrassing.

****

****

Annie attended the rest of her classes, and lunch finally arrived. Her usual table was empty, or course, and so she made her way over and sat down, alone. Armin had already joined up with his crew a few tables down, and Annie couldn't help when she glanced over, hoping that she didn't accidentally catch anyone's eye.

That hope held out for a grand total of a minute before she locked eyes with Armin, who smiled and gestured for her to come over. Annie's eyebrows rose in surprise and she tilted her head to the side slightly. The boy simply chucked and stood up.

Armin walked over to Annie and took the seat directly next to her. A bit too close for her liking, she shied away and retreated back into the seat (as much as was possible given that the chairs had no backs, and were instead attached to the base of the table).

"Why are you sat here alone? You should join us." Armin pointed back at his table with his thumb, and Annie's vision followed. She was met with 8 pairs of eyes staring back in complete shock.

"But no one wants me over there, I'd just make shit awkward."

There was no point in dancing around the subject, especially with Armin. He was smart enough to notice when people were hiding what they meant, so Annie figured she may as well come clean. The boy's eyes narrowed with a mixture of exasperation and concern. He took Annie's right hand in her own, examining the bruises and other things.

Annie felt herself tense at the contact. She snatched her hand away and turned to face forward and away from Armin, cautiously continuing to eat.

"Just this one time." He smiled brightly, and continued. "I promise it won't be terrible, and then you won't have to sit alone at lunch anymore."

_What the fuck? He says that as if I'm actually capable of being around people._

The blonde girl huffed, "Fuck it. Fine, I'll entertain your theory." His eyes lit up, if only for a second.

Annie continued.

"However, if this whole...thing..." she gestured wildly towards the group sat a few feet away from them, "goes bad, you owe me £20."

Armin's face fell with disbelief.

"...sure."

He stood up, gesturing for Annie to do the same before walking back over to his table. Annie followed and sat down right at the corner, putting at least one chair's worth of distance between her and any other people.

Everyone's eyes immediately went to her, and no one said a word.

No one even breathed.

You could hear a pin drop due to the deafening silence that surrounded the table, judgement and confusion launched like bullets in Annie's direction.

Said girl stared down at her food and tried her best to block out the piercing gazes.

She was saved yet again by Armin and his unfairly good social skills. "Hey, come on. Don't just stare, she'll feel uncomfortable." He reasoned with the others, and quiet mutters of "right" or "sorry" spread across them. Annie blushed and sent a Armin a look that said "thank you so fucking much", and he replied with a comforting grin.

And so the rest of lunch commenced with relative peace, a conversation starting here and there. Armin tried to involve Annie in the group's discussions (which usually descended into something about penises), and saw varying levels of success that increased slightly as time progressed.

Annie could barely keep up with the chaos that was Armin's friend group. In the space of 15 minutes Eren has dared Connie to scream "I like cock" for £5, which Connie did immediately, got told off, and laughed his head off for the next five minutes. Sasha stole Jean's food when he wasn't looking, and Connie had to break up what would have been the fight of the century.

Reiner and Bertholdt stole quick, awkward glances at Annie from time to time. She ignored every single one, mostly focussing on trying to eat, as well as not combust from the noise.

It hammered her ears and drilled into her brain. It was everywhere and Annie panicked to try and get away. Every way she turned there was shouting and screaming from all sides that made her shrink back into herself.The constant unending pain of voices slashing away at her resolve, to the point where she could barely move and to comprehend people speaking to her took at least a few moments.

There were multiple times where Annie thought she might just get up and run off to somewhere quieter and safer, but Armin continued to be her guardian angel and give her reassuring looks and help her out in conversation.

It wasn't much, but to Annie it meant the world. To have someone look out for her in situations she knew she couldn't handle. To be so patient and understanding no matter what.

_Maybe this is what it feels like to have a true friend._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annie's character continues to develop, and I decided that Armin is a good way for that to happen. I like these two and their interactions are quite fun to write. It makes me almost happy when Armin helps her out, even though I'm the one writing the entire scenario.
> 
> Don't worry, Mikasa will actually become a character at some point. Because this is written from Annie's perspective, she will seem very confusing and weird because that's how Annie sees it. Mikasa is basically just a massive fucking bully in Annie's eyes.
> 
> And so yes this story is going somewhere.
> 
> With that said, have a great week!!! Love ya ;)


	6. Connection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I...think I made a friend..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ATTACK ON TITAN SUNDAY FELLOW RETARDS
> 
> Also yea I forgot to explain that basically my brain went: let's make Annie's mum exist but her dad is just *gone*
> 
> Now that's over, enjoy!

"Hey, coconut."

It was the end of the day and people were leaving, so Annie took her chance to have a quiet conversation with Armin, who turned around to face her. He walked over and away from the crowd of students, leaning on a wall about 2 feet away from Annie.

"Yeah, what's up?" He pushed himself off the wall and stood upright.

Annie shuffled nervously, trying to find the right words. She had literally no experience with friendship or other relationships of any kind, so her growing fondness of the blonde boy was not something she was confident in handling.

"T-thanks, for today. You helped me when you didn't need to, and I truly appreciate your consideration." She blushed and failed to meet Armin's eyes. "I think I could try at being friends with you, I'm just scared that I'll screw it up again."

Armin still stood patiently, taking in Annie's words.

"I'm not good at this shit, so I understand if acquainting yourself with me isn't something you want to do. I'm blunt and mean most of the time and consideration for other people is not my strong suite."

Annie finally met Armin's gaze.

"But you seem to actually care about me for whatever crazy reason, so I'll give it a shot."

There was a long silence.

Finally, the blonde boy spoke, his warm and friendly manner never once faltering.

"I'd like to be friends also. Don't worry about screwing anything up, I'm friends with Eren and Mikasa so I'm pretty much forced to be patient and deal with whatever shit they spew." He chuckled and took out his phone.

"We can exchange numbers if you like..."

Annie allowed herself to smile-

"Yeah, that'd be great,"

-and opened her own phone.

Armin stamped his number into Annie's phone. "Cool, all done."

The pair stepped back from each other, another awkward pause brewing. This time Annie broke it with a quick "Bye, see you tomorrow!" and pulled her grey hood up over her head, happily walking off in the direction of her house.

****

****

The door to her house was unlocked, and there was her mother's slick black Audi in the drive when she arrived home, and Annie pushed the door open and walked inside, a bit more spring in her step than usual. Her mother, ever the watchful eye, noticed this and decided that she had nothing more important to do that ask Annie about it.

"What's got you all happy and excited?" She inquired, and received a death glare from the shorter blonde, before adding "I thought you were meant to be a teenager" and chuckling like it was actually a funny joke.

Ok maybe it was a bit funny, and Annie couldn't help when she smiled for a whole second before reverting back to boredom and indifference.

"Ha ha very funny."

"Sorry for being interested in what's going on in your life. You never come home happy or excitable, and it makes _me_ happy to see _you_ happy." Annie's mum stood up from the sofa and strolled over to her daughter, pulling her into a hug.

"So how _was_ your day?"

Annie tensed slightly, not knowing how to talk about her newfound friendship with Armin, or the fact that today she nearly got attacked by Mikasa (again), or how for once she actually hung out with people instead of being lonely. But then Annie realised that these were (mostly) all normal things that regular kids do, and relaxed back into her mother's embrace.

"I...think I made a friend..." She offered, pausing to wait for the reply.

The one she got was full of pride and joy and love, and a kiss to the forehead.

"Honey that's amazing! I keep saying that you should try and make some friends, maybe get a _boyyyyfriend_....." She poked Annie teasingly on the shoulder, to which Annie gave her a dead stare.

"But seriously, that's amazing news! You've been so shut off since your father left, and it's great to see that you're building bridges again. I'm proud of you. You're growing so fast, and you don't give yourself enough credit for how incredible you are. You're smart and funny and sarcastic and I'm sure if you tried, you'd be friends with everyone in the school."

Annie found herself caught in a second hug, and she simply stood and let it happen, slightly taken aback by her mother's words

"...thanks mum."

She returned the hug with a massive smile, before giving her mum a kiss on the cheek and scampering off upstairs.

The door closed and Annie dumped her bag in the corner of the room, and changed out of her school uniform. She put on a casual t-shirt and joggers. Annie hopped into bed and pulled the covers over herself. Her plan was to stay in bed until tomorrow morning, utilising her secret snack drawer that was full of Oreos and fruit bars to keep her from being hungry.

Annie reached over to take her phone from her inside blazer pocket, and threw it back over to the foot of her bed ready to be worn tomorrow. She only had one set of uniform so she couldn't wash it during the week.

Opening her phone, Annie started a new sent the first message to her new contact.

_Annie: hey_

_Annie: it's annie_

She waited in anticipation for Armin to reply, and he did a few minutes later.

**Armin: Hi, how are you?**

Her reply came seconds later.

 _Annie: im good thanks_ , how are you

**Armin: Good to hear (•‿•)**

**Armin: I'm better now that you've saved me from chronic boredom. My grandad is currently downstairs making dinner and he won't let me help.**

The blonde smiled to herself.

_Annie: yikes, also that smiley face looks cursed as hell_

_Annie: im free for like forever so if you wanna have a long random conversation about whatever thats fine_

**Armin: If it's ok, I'd like to talk about earlier today.**

_Annie: you mean about "that"?_

**Armin: Yeah**

**Armin: I was kinda worried about you, but decided to leave it for later once things had calmed down.**

_Annie: ok, thats fine_ **  
**

_Annie: where do you want to start_

**Armin: Well first off, are you ok now?** _  
_

_Annie: yea im good_

**Armin: Good to hear :)**

**Armin: So, what exactly happened (if it's ok that I ask)?**

_Annie: its fine dw_

_Annie: and basically what happened is_

_Annie: i was just walking to my first class, but as i went to enter the building mikasa fucking attacked me and pinned me against the wall_

_Annie: she said she wanted to apologise for what happened, but then went full ape-shit on me when i said "its fine" cos apparently thats such an outrageous thing to say_

_Annie: according to her it wasnt fine at all, and that warranted her screaming at me that im useless and pathetic and cant be bothered to give two shits about other people_

She waited for Armin's response, but it seemed that he was content just listening for now.

_Annie: i started crying cos its all true, and ran to the bathroom and punched a wall before crying in a stall for 15 minutes_

_Annie: so there_

Finally, Annie saw that Armin was typing.

**Armin: Ok, that was a lot.**

**Armin: Mikasa basically couldn't control her emotions and got violent again.**

**Armin: I don't really know what to say to that, I guess she is just going through a bad time.** **It's been over a week since 'that day' and she's usually fine by now.**

**Armin: Maybe there's something else plagueing her mind that she hasn't told me or Eren yet.**

Why did Armin have to sound so reasonable? Annie sulked and sent another text.

_Annie: what the shit could justify restraining someone and shouting at them for no reason just because youre "not feeling ok"_

_Annie: i did literally nothing and i get this_

**Armin: I honestly don't know. I'll talk to her.**

**Armin: Also, about what she said being true, it's not.**

_Annie: i beg to differ_

_Annie: it's clear that i don't care about anyone other than myself, why do you think i have no friends??_

She had pressed "send" before she could stop herself. Annie didn't want to believe that, or remind herself of it, but deep down she knew that if she didn't talk about it then those feelings would never go away. Feelings of inadequacy around other people. Feeling at a loss for what to do when someone so much as asks her for a pen.

But she didn't feel like that with Armin, not to that degree at least. He was calm and patient and thoughtful and everything Annie wanted to be but wasn't. He made her feel like an actual person, made her realise that sometimes it's ok to not be good at stuff, so long as you try to improve.

He cared, and that was all Annie could ever ask for.

**Armin: You're wrong, you know.**

**Armin: I don't know exactly what it is about people that makes you uneasy, but I understand that it is hard.**

**Armin: And don't ever think that it's stupid that you find it difficult, because it's perfectly valid and loads of people struggle with this stuff.**

And there it was again.

Armin's unfairly reasonable argument. Annie couldn't help but at least understand what he was trying to say.

_Annie: thanks_

_Annie: i guess youve got a point_

Annie felt herself smile at Armin's words, even over text. It was nice to have someone to talk to, instead of being lonely and sad all the time.

_I could get used to this._

_****_

_****_

Annie walks into school the next day with a sort of anticipation she hasn't felt in ages. She is genuinely excited to talk to Armin, and she even started off her day by texting him " _morning mushroom man"._ Come to think of it, that probably wasn't the best way to address her newest and currently only friend, but whatever.

It was thrilling, Annie thought, thinking about all the random conversations they would have, maybe getting to know the rest of the group better. The things she never did because she was scared of what may happen if she messes up.

But for whatever reason Annie didn't feel that with Armin. He understood her and that gave Annie a sense of security that, strangely enough, she trusted. Maybe not as far as to completely trust Armin himself, but that would surely change. She could _feel_ it.

Luckily, Armin took physics with her so she might be able to sneak in a conversation or two. Annie walked into the room and took her usual seat in the very back corner, furthest away from the door. It took her a moment to realise that the person sitting in front of her was, in fact, a certain blonde genius. Annie leaned forward and tapped him on the shoulder.

"How the hell did I not know you sat right Infront of me?" She whispered once he turned around. She was met with a shrug and his trademark bright smile, before Armin turned back to face the front and began writing something on a piece of paper.

He handed it to Annie, keeping his eyes forward so as to not be obvious about his actions.

**Talk using this.**

Annie smirked at Armin's sneakiness, not expecting this from someone like him. She wrote something under it in her messy handwriting.

 **Rebel.** **Also how is your handwriting so good??**

The note was passed back to Armin, who immediately wrote back before focussing on the lesson.

**Guess I got lucky? We should probably actually do the work now lmao.**

The girl laughed under her breath and put the piece of paper to one side while she turned her attention to the front. She scribbled down the information on the board and smiled.

_Why didn't I try this earlier?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Since I'm on break from school rn I tried to make this one (and the next one) slightly longer, and I hope that I can push to 3k words per chapter every time from now on.
> 
> Have an amazing week, love ya.  
> (✿^‿^)


	7. Laughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annie is a nerd and then becomes friends with some lesbians.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SHINGEKI NO SUNDAY FELLOW RETARDS!!!!
> 
> This is the but where the plot starts moving forward (hopefully).
> 
> Don't worry it's still a slow burn because we like to explore character development and interactions.
> 
> Enjoy (✿^‿^)

_Why didn't I try this earlier?_

That thought stayed with Annie through the day, and it never ceased to amaze her how much fun being friends with someone was. Every other friendship she had previously was full of tense moments and social anxiety, but with Armin it felt different. He was thoughtful and kind, and always tried to understand when Annie was uncomfortable or tense. He even went a step further to try and help her, which honestly meant the world to Annie.

Lunch was different too, and although she hadn't really warmed up to Armin's crew yet, Annie felt more comfortable around them just because her friend was there. Only a few moments of awkward tension occured when her and Mikasa's eyes met, and Annie was sure that the taller girl's unnecessary and violent actions were not just erased from everyone's minds.

The blonde's thoughts were interrupted by a male voice, brash and excited.

"Hey Annie!" She snapped her head around and saw that it was Eren who had called her name. "You and Armin are uhh....friends.... right??" He smirked suggestively and Annie didn't fail to notice Connie and Reiner struggling to hide their laughter.

Finally Annie caught on to what they were implying, and went fully red and tense.

"Well...uhh..." Her voice was soft and quiet, cautious and maybe slightly scared. "W-we are... Armin is....uhh..." Annie shuffled uncomfortablely in her chair, glancing over to Armin in a silent prayer to help her out, which of course he did.

"Come on Eren, don't be like that. It's a miracle Annie can even stand being here normally, she doesn't need your insensitivity and 'hilarious jokes'." The boy placed a reassuring hand on Annie's shoulder, and his reasoned tone helped to calm her down. Eren was obviously not happy that his joke was badly received, as he huffed a short "sorry" and ignored Annie for the rest of lunch.

Apart from that, lunch went smoothly and soon it was over. Annie, Armin and Mikasa had free periods, while the others all had some kind of lesson to attend.

Armin suggested that the trio hang out in the library and catch up on mathematics, the only subject they all shared. It would be especially helpful for Annie and Mikasa, he explained, because they both missed a week after their fight. Annie tried not to focus too much on the odd death glare that the taller girl sent her way whenever anyone brought the incident up, which was (fortunately) incredibly rare.

Speaking of, it had been 9 whole days since the fight, and the blonde girl was slightly surprised by how quickly it had seemed to pass.

Her train of thought was interrupted by Armin pulling out his maths book, flipping though the pages and exclaiming "here!" once he reached last week's work. Pascal's Triangle. It was easy enough, since Annie took further maths at GCSE so she had covered it before.

The triangle consisted of a 1 at the top. Imagining there was a 0 on the outside of every 1, the sum of any two adjacent numbers was below and between said numbers. This lead to a pyramid of 1's running down the triangle. Underneath the two 1's was a 2, and underneath that and both 1's on either side was a 3, which had a 6 below them, and so on. The shape is hard to explain but easy to understand with an image, and very easy to replicate.

It is used to expand binomials without having to do massively long and boring expansions of multiple brackets, through some really hard to explain method. But it worked, and in Annie's opinion it was really fucking cool.

The way that numbers interact with each other and all the cool shit you can do with them fascinated her. How different rules such as circle theorems all linked together, or sometimes just the baffling complexity of something such as multiplying matrices. There were few things Annie enjoyed more than exercising her brain in some hard as shit maths problem, only to figure it out eventually and feel the rush of pride and relief.

Armin obviously understood that feeling. His eyes lit up whenever he explained something, and even more so when the two girls understood what he was saying. Which was most of the time, but Annie decided not to interrupt Armin and ruin his fun.

She looked over to Mikasa, who was staring intently at Armin's work and scribbling it down hastily, seeming to do anything instead of meet Annie's gaze. Her handwriting was neat, she thought, much more so than her own. And the presentation of her work was astounding. Annie half-expexted Mikasa to be one of those people that had colours for each topic, and outlines each paragraph in a big box with obnoxious unnecessary lines and colours everywhere, but no. Everything was set out in an easy-to-follow way with headings and subheadings and tables and diagrams. It was something Annie admired about people, especially when the best she could do was illegible scribbles and diagrams drawn in pen.

 _Mikasa must feel it too_.

Underneath all that violence, blank expression, disinterested tone. Deep under all that gristle, Mikasa Ackerman was just like everyone else. She had dreams and passions and phobias and pet peeves. She wakes up every morning and goes to bed every night.

Annie knew all this because she was the same.

But that didn't lessen the pain she felt from yesterday's actions, or the fight from a week ago, and it definitely didn't persuade Annie from forgiving Mikasa.

"Oi, Leonhart."

Annie's head snapped up to the taller girl, instinctively recognising the use of her second name as Mikasa's words.

Trying to maintain her bored façade, Annie spoke slowly in an attempt to control her voice. This wasn't the most pleasant of situations and inside her head massive red sirens were going off, telling her to drop her head and leave. But she couldn't do that, since Armin was present, so Annie simply faced her fears for him.

"W-what do you want?"

_Fuck. I stuttered._

"Do you mind not staring at me? It's creepy as fuck." Mikasa's dead tone took Annie by surprise. There was no malice or threat in her voice, and she didn't even bother to look at the blonde as she spoke. It was only then Annie realised that she had subconsciously braced herself for the violent and impulsive Mikasa from a few days ago, and she let out a breath she didn't even know she'd been holding.

"Oh, right. Sorry, I completely zoned out. I swear I didn't mean anything by it."

_Nice one, try saying less words next time._

"If you say so." And just like that, Mikasa seemed to have dropped the topic and moved on completely.

Annie then turned to Armin, who gave a confused look and she simply shrugged in an equally confused manner.

He turned back to his book and carried on explaining.

"So anyway, as I was saying. The negative doesn't really change much, you just do what you'd always do when you have a negative number to the power of something-"

Annie zoned out after that, already knowing basically the entire topic already. She thought about how astronomically better today had been than any other day she could remember. About how every little conversation with Armin made her feel just a bit better, a but closer not just to him, but to all his friends too.

Maybe she could try getting to know them better as well.

****

****

It came to the end of the day, and Annie decided to tag alongside Armin as he and his group of friends walked out of the building. It was part of a master plan to get closer to them all.

Step 1: Become friends with Armin.

Step 2: Use him as a reason to be around them all.

Step 3: Get used to their company enough to hold a conversation with any one of them without malfunctioning.

Step 4: Get their numbers.

Step 5: Loneliness begone!

Okay, that did sound a bit like using Armin for her own benefit, and it kind of was, but it wasn't like she had malicious intent. Armin would surely understand if he asked why Annie was constantly with them all of a sudden. Hell, he'd probably force each and every one of them to be friends with her of his own accord.

"Hey Annie."

She was brought from her thoughts by a voice calling her name.

"Yeah?" Annie turned to face the owner of the voice, Ymir, who had sneaked through the group to stand next to her.

"Whick direction are you walking? Most of the squad lives that way." the tall girl pointed over in the opposite direction of the way Annie's house was.

"Oh. I live that way," the blonde gestured in the other direction. "Why?"

Ymir's grin changed into something more like contemplation, before she grinned again and looped an arm around Annie's pulling her close.

"No big reason. Me and Historia don't really have any plans today so I thought we could walk you home, get to know each other a bit better, you know?"

Annie looked back at Ymir sceptically, not quite sure if she was being serious or not. Luckily she was saved by Historia, who seemed to be constantly joined to Ymir at the hip.

"It's okay Annie, Ymir looks scary and devious but she's actually just trying to help!" The girl was somehow shorter than her, yet held such a radiant energy that Annie was sure she could never even dream of containing. Historia hugged Ymir's arm and Annie sent Ymir a smug, knowing look.

"Shut up Annie."

Ymir grumbled, but leaned into the short(er) blonde girl anyways, making Annie's smirk only grow bigger.

"What are you talking about Ymir? I didn't say anything."

Annie turned and walked in the direction of her house, laughing under her breath. When she checked over her shoulder, the two other girl's were right behind her. They walked the 20 minute journey, chatting about parents and favourite subjects and other things that friends usually do to fill silence.

_Friends_

Word of the day, it would seem, as by the time they arrived at Annie's house she had the phone numbers of both Ymir and Historia, and could say with confidence that she felt comfortable in their presence.

And so Annie walked into her home with a kind of satisfaction she thought she'd never experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ay yo whaddup.  
> Lemme know what you think and also suggestions are welcome, if you think it might work then why not ask, you know?
> 
> Also if any of that maths stuff was badly explained just search it up, you'll understand it better that way.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, and see you next Sunday!  
> :))))


	8. Leap

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thought went out the window and instinct took over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I completely forgot whether I used Krista or Historia in chapter 2, but I can't be bothered to change everything so it's gonna be Historia from now on.
> 
> Also I can't remember specific dates in this fic so I'm just gonna be vague until I can.
> 
> Also also I changed up the texting format because it was bad but now it's good.
> 
> And it's moving into your neighborhood.

_Annie:_

_**yo armin** _

**_you free tomorrow to come round to mine?_ **

**_i thought we could study and shit since theres a maths test coming up_ **

Annie lay relaxed on her bed, covers thrown back in an attempt to get fully in bed that was completely forgotten at some point along the process. She stared at her phone screen as if it would speed up the reply from her friend; it did not.

Today was Friday, a week and a bit after Ymir and Historia had walked her home, and Annie was bored as hell. She figured that she may as well do something productive but couldn't be assed to at the moment, so calling Armin over to study tomorrow seemed like a good idea.

Plus it means they get to spend time together, which is always a nice thing to do with friends, as Annie has learned over the week.

She waited for about 55 seconds before the reply came.

_Armin:_

_**I'm free tomorrow, yes.** _

_**I'd like to come round to yours and hang out if it's okay :)** _

Annie punched the air in triumph.

_Annie:_

**_cool_ **

She texted Armin her address and they sorted out a time, before Armin said he had to leave and they exchanged ' _cya's'_ and Annie was once again left with nothing but her thoughts. She pondered texting Ymir or Historia, or both, since they came as a 2-in-1 package no matter the place or time.

There was definitely more going on between them than just "good friends", and Annie smirked to herself as her brain explored the implications of that.

Then she realised that she was imagining her two friends having lesbian sex and jumped out of bed to go wash her hands, her mouth, her brain (if she could).

Instead, the blonde settled on watching YouTube videos about sharks. Apparently, the Great White Shark has over 20 different social behaviours that have been identified by humans, such as splash fights and parallel swimming, which both are to determine the stronger or bigger of the two sharks.

They also have incredibly interesting and unique evolutionary traits that allow them to raise their core body temperature to relatively high levels, allowing then to hunt on area's most cold-blooded fish cannot. This is because the main muscles used to swim are located deep within the shark's body, rather than near the skin, which reduced heat loss to the surrounding water. In addition, the arteries and veins that supply oxygenated blood to the muscles run along the flanks and go deep into the muscles, reducing heat loss even more.

AND because the arteries and veins are so closely bundled together, heat from the deoxygenated blood in the veins can go back into the arteries to heat up the muscles even more.

Annie stared in slight shock at her wall once the video ended.

"Huh," she breathed, "the more you know."

Her YouTube journey continues for another 47 minutes, taking her through the wonders of mantle plumes and freak waves and James May saying "cheese", whoever that was. By the end of it, Annie felt as through her brain had doubled in size to accommodate all the useless and not so useless information that was apparently dumped on the internet. It was stopped by a text coming through from Armin.

_Armin:_

**_Just to confirm, 11am is the time. I'll bring my regular stuff for studying._ **

The blonde smiled at the text, even though it was pretty useless and gave no relevant information that she didn't already know.

_Annie:_

_**yup** _

Annie felt no need to carry on the conversation when things and already been sorted, and now all there was to do was wait.

****

****

Dinner came and went, so did the rest of the evening. Before she knew it, Annie woke up the next day, her head filled with tiredness and a determination to do nothing for the next 20 minutes.

With nothing better to do, Annie groaned loudly, a complaint to the empty air that occupied her room, and reached down below her bed for her phone. 30 seconds of wild gestures rewarded her with the item, and she brought it up to her face and turned it on.

"AHHH FUCK ME!"

Annie's eyes slammed shut as she very quickly and very unpleasantly realised that she still had the brightness up to its usual levels. She quickly turned the brightness down and blinked in an attempt to revive her vision.

There were 2 texts waiting to be read, both from Armin.

_Armin:_

**_Okay I'm leaving. I'll be there in 20._ **

**_Annie I'm outside your house._ **

The blonde's eyes flicked up to the digital clock beside her bed, and her stomach dropped with horror.

_11:05_

_God fucking dammit_

Groaning again, Annie rolled out of bed and landed on the floor with a thud, then proceeded to complain when it hurt, as if she wasn't the one to just _roll_ out of bed.

A new notification came up on her phone.

_Armin:_

**_Should I come back later?_ **

Her reply was immediate.

_Annie:_

**_no no no no no its fine_ **

**_i just woke up late is all_ **

_**hold on for like** **5 minutes**_

In that 5 minutes Annie threw on her grey hoodie over her pyjamas, brushed her teeth in record time, washed her face, and decided not to mess around with her hair. If it wanted to lay messily across her face, so be it.

Annie sprinted downstairs and nearly tripped over a stray wire, before reaching the door and putting on her best "just out of bed" face for extra comedic effect. She opened the door to reveal Armin, all dressed and clean and ready for the day, complete with work stuff and a smile.

"Whaddup."

"You look like you've been dragged through a hedge."

"I have. Come inside."

Stepping aside to allow her friend to pass through the doorway, Annie outstretched a hand to gesture to the rest of the house.

Armin stood and took in the surroundings. He was in a large room, it looked like the kitchen, dining room and living room were all combined into a single space. The kitchen was tiled differently from the rest of the area, clean white tiles lined it's floor and walls, as opposed to the plain green wallpaper and brown carpet of the 'living room'. There were two black sofas and a large TV in one corner, and a coffee table sat Infront of the larger of the two sofas, which were placed perpendicular to each other with a space inbetween to access that area of the room.

He walked fully inside and removed his shoes turned to Annie, who was stood in the middle of the room like a fish out of water.

Funny, considering this was _her_ house.

"Is anyone else home?" Armin could see signs of other life around, such as an extra pair of shoes that were at least two sizes larger than Annie's (which he recognised from school), but no sounds or movement was made to indicate other people.

A long 10 seconds passed before Annie spoke.

"My mum is out shopping, as usual. Most Saturdays I wake up late and she's gone before I get up. My Dad is somewhere, but I don't know where since he left when I was 8. I have no siblings or pets so it's literally just us."

"Oh" was all Armin replied, hopefully buying him time to think of a better response to what he had just been told.

He managed "sorry about your Dad" before his brain moved on to other topics, unable to stay on track of the potentially dangerous subject.

Annie shuffled a bit, then walked towards a flight of stairs leading to the second floor.

"It's fine, he was kind of an ass. It didn't make me not sad when he left, but looking back I'm sort of glad that he did." Armin hummed in acknowledgement and followed Annie upstairs to what he presumed was her room.

At the top of the stairs were two rooms directly to the side of where they appeared on the second floor. A hallway stretched adjacent to the staircase and ran back along the length of the house. Annie stopped at the room closest to them and turned to face Armin.

"My room is this one." Annie pointed at each room in turn as she listed off which one they were. "My mum's room. Bathroom. Spare bedroom."

"Okay, got it"

The pair walked inside the room that had been labelled as Annie's, and Annie sat down on her twin size bed. She looked at Armin confusedly, as he just stood in the middle of the room not moving.

"Dude, don't just stand there, sit down. I wouldn't have invited you over if I didn't want you in my house, Braincell."

"Oh right, sorry." Annie chuckled as Armin placed his stuff on her bed and sat down on it himself. It was strange, seeing Armin so out of his element, when he was usually so well composed. Annie wondered if had the same trouble as she did, with making friends, and if that was just amplified since their friendship was new.

"So, Annie." Armin's voice cut through her thoughts and brought her back to reality. She ry had to stop getting lost in her head, in case anyone started getting pissed off at her obliviousness, such as right now. "Annie."

"Wha...Oh yeah, sorry I was just spaced out."

She offered a sheepish smile, and Armin dramatically facepalmed before going back to what he was saying.

"What exactly are we going to do? You said study but that's never how these things go, so what was the _actual_ plan?"

Annie simply stared blankly at him. What the hell did he mean 'actual plan'? She invited him over to study because that's what she intended to do.

"Huh?"

"Well, I just figured that maybe we could get some work done at some point, but for now..."

A shit-eating grin plastered his face, and Armin looked so...un-Armin-like. Though it was kind of endearing, seeing the usually calm, kind and composed Armin Arlert be so mischievous. Not that this situation was mischievous, but it wasn't like Annie hd anything to compare it to.

"Uhhh....Annie? Have I got something on my face?" He reached over to his cheek and Annie immediately recognised her mistake. She blushed and aimed her gaze at the floor.

"S-sorry. I'm not good at this stuff."

Suddenly Armin was leaning in close and his arm went around her shoulder in a comforting gesture. She looked up at him and all of a sudden his face was so close. Annie could see the shadows that his nose cast, the length of his eyelashes, the exact shade of his blue eyes. A brilliant blue that, upon further inspection, could possibly have a hint of grey.

Thought went out the window and instinct took over.

Annie leaned towards him, her face angles slightly upwards to make up for the small height difference. Not much, but noticeable. Her eyes closed and by this point she could feel his light breath on her face.

Finally-

_What the hell am I doing??_

-after what seemed like forever-

_Holy shit get out of there. Stop right the fuck now._

_-_ the distance between them closed-

_Please stop it, I don't know what I'm doing. Why am I doing this?_

_-_ finally-

_Help._

-their lips touched, if only for a second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh damn.
> 
> I swear the plot is moving. I have a big plan and I'm just tryna build the foundations of the story first.
> 
> Also, if any of you are wondering about Mikasa POV/Mikasa-centric chapters, it won't happen for as long as Annie is alive. Mikasa's character is deeper in canon and I want to explore Annie's character for myself.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, see you next week!


	9. Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Read notes please.
> 
> In which Annie realises that she fucked up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!!
> 
> I apologise profusely for disappearing for a week, I just didn't have the energy to write. However I am back, so do not fret.
> 
> This chapter is short, but mainly because it ends in a good place and extending it would only harm the story.
> 
> Enjoy!

"Annie..."

...

"Annie."

...

"Annie! Answer me!"

The blonde fought against the growing terror in her stomach and moved her head every so slightly to the side, allowing her to peer cautiously at Armin. She met his gaze for a second, caught a glimpse of his unreadable expression, and looked away as if she'd just witnessed the devil itself. Annie could feel his eyes on her head and buckled under the pressure.

"I-I'm...s-sor-ry."

Her breathing was irregular and fast, dangerously so. Apart from fear, one singular emotion ran through her like poison in her veins. It felt so burning hot to fight against yet so nice to embrace and accept as part of her being.

Disappointment.

Annie was so horribly disappointed with herself, at what she had done, that all of her work and effort and all of Armin's struggles to help her led to this. They led to her fucking it all up.

"Annie, I think...I should leave."

An invisible force pulled her vision downwards while she wanted to meet Armin's eyes, tell him to stay and that she'd make up for it all. But that force, her electric hatred for her own desicions, rooted Annie in place. She heard the door open, Armin walked out of it with a quick "goodbye" and closed the door behind him.

Once he was gone it all came rushing back at her. No immense pressure to keep her mind off of the weight of her actions, of his words, of him waking away.

It was too much. Annie broke down in tears right there and then, screaming a cacophony of curses and insults, all filled to the brim with hatred and aimed directly at herself, tearing viscous holes in her self esteem and letting the blood pour out by the gallon. The razor-sharp words screamed past her ears, the fact that they were her own only added to the sting.

 _Why?_?

_How could you do this?_

_What is wrong with you??_

They didn't stop. They refused to stop. Even if Annie wanted them to they wouldn't.

Until one sentance escaped her lips and Annie was thrown out of balance completely.

_Armin hates you._

An audible gasp left her mouth, silent tears streaming down her face and dripping helplessly on to the carpet below. She was an image of pure hopelessness, having given up on any chance of redemption seemingly long ago.

_Armin hates you._

_Why wouldn't he? You kissed him for no reason, even you didn't want to do it. You acted impulsively with no regard for the consequences of your actions, as you always do. That was probably his first kiss, and you stole it. Not only that but it was yours too._ _You'll have to forever live with the knowledge that your first kiss was the biggest failure in a long list of failures that is your life._

 _Don't try to fix what little you had with Armin, you'd only screw it up again._ _It'd be a waste of his time, he'd never want to be friends with you again._

"...w-why...?"

Annie didn't know why she did what she did, the only thing that was clear to her was that she messed up horribly and ruined her friendship with Armin.

And by association all of the other people in his group.

_Fuck._

_He's gonna tell them and then they're gonna hate me too._

_Shit shit shit shit oh fuck what do I do?_

Get the hell out of here, for a start.

Annie bolted down the stairs and flew out of the house, not locking the door or even leaving it closed. Her first priority was _run._

No where in particular, just away from home. Away from where it happened.

****

****

The blonde ran for at least 5 minutes before coming to a halt. Adrenaline wore off and the consequences of the situation hit her like a ton of bricks. Not only had Annie _kissed_ Armin for absolutely no reason, but now she was in the middle of a street in her pyjamas after having ran away from home. Under all the pressure, Annie collapsed from exhaustion and fear.

Well, she would have if it weren't for another body stopping Annie from falling.

"Shit, are you okay?" The voice was familiar, but not too familiar. It was a female voice, cool and slightly surprised, but not enough to throw off her composure. Annie's brain wasn't in a good enough shape at the moment to figure out who it was from voice alone, and instead went to the effort of turning a full 180 degrees while stumbling to her feet and craning her neck upwards to meet their gaze.

_Oh for fuck's sake._

Why.

Why did it have to be her.

The one person in Annie's life who was 100% guaranteed to turn any given situation into a nightmare.

"Oh fuck, sorry." Annie couldn't really care less at this point. Any shit that life threw her way would be embraced as it was better than being home beating herself up over the Armin incident. If nothing else, it served as an effective distraction from the rest of her life.

"Leonhart, what that hell are you doing?" Mikasa's voice was calm, but, of course, had an air of annoyance and firmness to it that made Annie's skin crawl. In addition, that was one hell of a hard question to answer right now.

"...what do you mean?" Annie managed to stand up by now and separated herself form Mikasa. A quick glance around showed that there was almost no one else currently in the area, which was a relief. Crowds could go fuck themselves.

Mikasa's expression changed to one of confusion. "What do you mean?? I'm just asking why the fuck you just ran into me at 11:27 on a Saturday morning in your pyjamas!"

The words were aggressive, but strangely enough there was no bite in her tone. It felt more like Mikasa was joking around than trying to attack Annie.

"...why are you being so nice...?"

"Huh?"

"You're not pissed at me or shouting or anything."

Understand flashed across the taller girl, suddenly realising what Annie meant.

"Oh right. Well.... shit. Uhhhhh." Mikasa flushed a deep red out of embarrassment. "I'm sorry, for all the other times when I've been a dickhead, or pissed at you for no reason. It started with....well...Armin has probably told you about it, the day when my parents died. I just get so distressed and I usually end up punching things, or in that case people. So sorry about that."

Annie simply stood and stared, mouth slightly agape at Mikasa's sudden change of heart. By this point Mikasa was looking away from Annie and at the floor, hands moving restlessly as a futile form of distraction.

She continued.

"There has been another thing that's made my life shit recently. I can't really go into detail but it's pretty bad, and I'd prefer if you didn't pry. But I can understand if you're curious, it's just that right now I'm not ready to talk about it with anyone. Today has been okay so I'm in a good mood." Mikasa looks back up at Annie and offers a warm but sheepish smile. "I know you told me to stay away from you, but I'd like if you could somehow forgive me and maybe we could be friends..."

"...uhhh..."

Locked in place, the blonde is still trying to catch up with everything Mikasa and said. So it turns out she's not just a bitch (even though Armin _did_ tell her about the losing parents thing it still seemed excessive), and is even willing to make up and be friends.

But fuck, what about Armin? Didn't she just shit all over her friendship with him? And of course that's going to affect her potential friendship with Mikasa since those two are best friends by the looks of it.

However, Mikasa had just opened up about a lot of stuff, and things were starting to fall into place in Annie's head. It would be rude to just deny her everything.

"I...don't know if I'm ready to jump into a full blown friendship, and I'd definitely fuck it over anyways, but I forgive you nonetheless. I understand completely how it can feel when there's shit eating away at you, and maybe in the future we could be friends. Sorry if I've disappointed you..."

The taller girl's face lights up and she nods understandingly.

"That would be great actually! If you need time to sort out whatever you've got going on, then that's fine." Mikasa offers her hand out to Annie. "Start over?"

"Sure," Annie replies and takes Mikasa's hand.

"Annie Leonhart."

"Mikasa Ackerman, nice to meet you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so the plot moves forward!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, and happy Shingeki No Sunday!!!!!


End file.
